Little Falls Historical Society Museum Events
This day in history: April 28
1831
In an election for the highest village office, Arphaxed Loomis received 62 votes and Col. David Petree received 24 votes. Loomis had led the fight to break up the Ellice Estate.
1881
Thirty–two carloads of immigrants, drawn by two locomotives, passed through Little Falls bound west. That was only from one line of railroad for one day. Immigration is practically unrestricted, but most immigrants come from northern European countries.
1939
Crown Prince Frederik and Princes Ingrid of Denmark travelled to Little Falls, by a special railroad car, to visit the Hansen plant. A crowd of one thousand people welcomed them along with 200 employees atop the roof of the factory waving American and Danish flags.
1962
The last passenger train to stop in Little Falls left the city today. Mr. and Mrs. Austin Chase boarded the train to travel east to Schenectady to visit family. They returned by train, but had to depart in Utica and take a bus home to Little Falls.
This day in history: April 29
1861
From the diary of Arnold Petrie of Little Falls (1830-1869): “Scott came and told me that the man whome Father had hired as a substitute for me, in the volunteers, his name is Fye, had run away. It proved, however, that he had only gone home to take leave of his family.” Petrie thought that Fye might lose his life that he might live. Note: Records show that George Fye mustered out on June 30, 1862 in Albany.
1903
A gala celebration in Little Falls greeted the first of the electric inter-urbans (trolleys) to reach the city from Utica and Rome. A large crowd awaited the arrival of the car and the greatest enthusiasm prevailed. The Adams cannon fired salutes, and the school children waved greetings. There is half hour service between Little Falls and Herkimer.
1920
The Exchange Club was formed in Little Falls – a national organization that that was more concerned with country-wide problems than local causes and endeavors. In 1933, it became the Little Falls Civic Club.
1933
The last passengers were carried on the Little Falls & Dolgeville Railroad, and a dream of the Gay Nineties passed into history.
1979
An article in the Evening Times indicated that a more liberal interpretation of the George L. Smith will and estate would make $500,000 available of the $1,500,000 total for the Little Falls Public Library expansion.
2015
Ninety-five years to the day it was formed, the Little Falls Civic Club (Exchange Club: 1920 – 1933) disbanded. Long active in a wide variety of humanitarian and community affairs, the club was a victim of the times, changing interests, and dwindling membership. During its tenure, the club gave out $72,750 in scholarships to 220 graduating local high school seniors.
This day in history: April 30
1725
The Burnetsfield Patent, confirming the “Indian Deed,” was instituted, granting lands to 94 persons representing 38 families. The land covered 9,400 acres purchased from the Mohawks in 1722. Each patentee received 100 acres, each with some frontage on the Mohawk River from the little falls westward.
The land grants on the north side of the Mohawk River near the little falls were: Lot #10 – Augustus Hess, Lot #11 – Mary Beerman (Bierman), Lot # 12 – Johan Jost Temouth (Demuth), Lot #13 – Mary Eva Staring (Stahring.) Many deeds refer back to these lot numbers. The first lot, #13, ran from the falls at the Burrows paper mill to a line just west of the Allegro mill, then north to about Monroe Street.
1889
At 9 o’clock this morning all the church bells in Little Falls, and those throughout the nation, shall ring to celebrate the event 100 years ago when all the bells in the original thirteen states rang out to call the people together to pray for the success and prosperity of the country during the inauguration of George Washington as the first president of the United States.
1917
After eighty four years of service to the community, the National Herkimer County Bank was liquidated and then reopened today, in the new Burrell Building as the Herkimer County Trust Company. The new status gives the bank all the services which would be beneficial to all.
1921
A fire practically destroyed the old Evans Hotel at the northwest corner of John and Ann Streets. Built over 100 years ago, it was at this point that the overland mail stages changed their horses before the building of the railroad. Recently, it was a furniture store.
1943
WW II Era – Air raid wardens from sector 2W voted to build a picket fence around the obelisk in Eastern Park that was the city’s honor roll. Names of 250 more servicemen and women were to be added, bringing the total to about 1,500.
This day in history: May 1
1846
S. F. Bennet, begs leave to inform the citizens of Little Falls and vicinity, that he is now receiving a very extensive stock of Books and Stationary, cheap Literature, Toys and Fancy Goods, Looking Glasses, Hard Ware, Woolen Ware, and every description of Groceries, Fruit, &c. which he offers for sale at greatly reduced prices for ready pay.
1877
Rollin Smith requested permission to build a bandstand in Eastern Park and collected the funds necessary for the construction. It was completed in time for the Memorial Day dedication of the Soldiers’ Monument in the park by the G.A.R.
1886
The control of the Police and Fire Departments passed from the Trustees to a commission named Board of Fire and Police consisting of the Mayor and four Commissioners, but the Mayor has no vote.
1893
A large crowd of people gathered at the Central railroad station to see the fac simile of the original “Dewitt Clinton” locomotive and the first coaches drawn by it over the Albany & Schenectady Railroad.
1900
H. P. Snyder Manufacturing completed a shipment of 500 bicycles to a firm in Wolverhamton, England. Since December 1899, the company has produced 11,953 bicycles, the largest number ever turned out in a similar length of time.
Edward Cooney was appointed Little Falls’ first paid fire chief, a position he held for 47 years. During his tenure, he oversaw the transition from horse- drawn to motor-driven apparatus.
1916
The Stacey Company Cheese ceased operations when the executives foresaw the decline of Herkimer County as the center of the cheese trade, and the building space was taken over by the Little Falls Felt Shoe Company which had been founded in 1905. Irving E. Stacey is president of both companies.
1946
City Historian, Edward J. Cooney Jr. completed reviewing records and interviewing Little Falls participants in World War Ii. He totaled 1688 men and 69 women, and could not find records for another 11. 363 were married before entering the service, another 256 after joining up.
1967
The A&P grocery stores are discontinuing the distribution, begun in 1961, of Plaid Trading Stamps.
From the Cooney Archives
He Still Sustains: Pitt the Painter’s Studio Loft
/by Little Falls Historical Society Museumby Laura Laubenthal
From 2011 to 2013, I wrote my master’s degree thesis for the Cooperstown Graduate Program about “Pitt the Painter” and his role in showcasing the identity of Little Falls by means of his artwork. The project was largely based on oral histories told by those in town who remembered him since his death on September 4, 2007. While I spoke with several people, there were so many more I did not reach, as Pitt’s sphere of influence seemed immeasurable. The project went on, and it was apparent that these stories meshed together as modern-day folklore about talent, humor, addiction, and belonging.
by Laura Laubenthal
A FAN’S NOTES ON THE RETURN OF VINTAGE BASE BALL TO LITTLE FALLS
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThis author admits upfront that he is both a local history nut and a diehard New York Yankees fan. The intertwined paths of baseball and American history resonate with me. Older readers of this piece will likely recall watching Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and the transformational impact of Jackie Robinson. This author’s baseball roots trace […]
“Surviving Childhood in Little Falls” by Cynthia Holick Foley
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumWhen asked if I had any siblings, I often quipped, “My brother and I were only children.” While my first decade was spent in the peaceful and prosperous 1950s, his was spent just prior and during World War II. Recently my big brother, Jan Holick Sr., (born 1935, and graduated from Little Falls High School 1953,) sat down with me, (born 1951, and graduated 1969,) and shared his memories of a time I never knew except in history books. He was kind enough to open a window to his past, and this article invites you to share that view.
UPDATED HISTORICAL SOCIETY CANAL DAYS CELEBRATION EVENTS SCHEDULE
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThe recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in Herkimer County has forced our board directors and officers to rethink our Canal Days Celebration calendar of events and museum operation. Foremost in our thinking is public safety. We regret any inconveniences that these adjustments may cause. The CHURCH STREET CEMETERY TOUR was scheduled for Friday August 13 […]
Long Ago From a Far Away Land by Jessie Snyder Thompson Huberty
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumIn February of 1935, while snow fell heavily over Herkimer County in upstate New York, a cable arrived at the home of The Honorable Homer P. Snyder on Ann Street in Little Falls. It announced the birth of H.P.’s first great grandchild. It read: “Mother and child doing fine. Father barely survived!” Thus, I arrived amidst tropical breezes in the city of Manila, on the island of Luzon, in the Philippines, set between the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Manila: 8324 miles away from the city on the Mohawk River.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY CANCELLING CEMETERY WALKING TOUR AND HISTORIC MARKER DEDICATIONS
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumMost Little Falls residents know who Nathaniel Benton, H.P. Snyder, and D.H. Burrell were, but who were Enoch Moore, Arphaxed Loomis, Titus Sheard, and Peewash and how did each of these individuals impact community history? What do gravestones with weeping angels, shrouded urns, and tree stumps represent? What interesting life stories are hidden away in […]
John Frazier – Prisoner of War, Hero by John Frazier, Jr.
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumPersonal and societal beliefs and principles certainly change with time. Sometimes people are shocked or amazed to hear stories of people or events from the past, yet these tales may not be so difficult to comprehend if we’re able to empathize, and put ourselves back into that situation and moment in history.